Those fed up with current Government policy on housing should not rush to wish for regime change as some of the ideas coming from the opposition do not make brilliant reading.
In its latest pronouncements on future housing market policy the Labour party has landlords firmly in its sight. It has always favoured some form of rent controls and in a new report this is confirmed.
The independent report, Land for the Many, is backed by Labour and sets out plant to cap rent rises at inflation, impose a more rigorous tax regime on buy to let landlords and even restrict right to evict tenants which could include ending a property owner’s right to sell.
To put it into perspective, I believe that the current Government has done a lot for the housing market in terms of stamp duty change that has been positive for first time buyers and leading candidate to be the next Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, has put forward his support for cutting stamp duty even further. Yes, the Government did impose an extra 3% tax rate on additional homes which affects landlords and this should be looked at again.
The present Government has kick started house building and even although it is not yet enough to meet the target of 300,000 a year in England by the mid 2020s it is moving along. We can hope that once Brexit is out of the way more attention can be paid to putting even more funding into new homes.
Labour big wigs have talked about their support for the report and a Labour party spokesman said: “As the report makes clear, Britain is a deeply unequal country and we need to start addressing that. Rent controls and tighter restrictions on the ability of landlords to evict renters on spurious grounds are essential to rebalance a rental market which often leaves tenants powerless. House price stabilisation is not Labour policy, but with home ownership at a 30-year low, it is clear there is a desperate need to tackle runaway house prices”.
The report also suggested that Labour should consider an end to mortgage interest tax relief for landlords who charge the most excessive rents and introducing compensation, equivalent to three months’ rent, for tenants who are forced to move through no fault of their own. This would apply even in cases where the landlord wanted to sell up.
Boris Johnson is expected to be the next Prime Minister and he has already indicated that he would look at changing stamp duty so there is no tax on properties under £500,000 and might even consider taking away the additional tax that was added onto top end properties in 2014 by then Chancellor George Osborne.
Such a move would indeed stimulate the housing market post-Brexit. New research by prime London property portal Vyomm says that a reversal in stamp duty tax thresholds at the top end could help boost buyer demand and increase high end house prices by as much as £700,000.
The majority of UK property investors feel the Government is not doing enough to support the buy to let housing market, new research has found, with 50% suggesting scrapping the extra 3% stamp duty on additional homes would be a good starting point.
The MT Finance latest property investor survey also found that 33% of property investors want a reversal on the changes to tax relief on buy to let mortgages and on top of this some 17% believed introducing a tiered tax system on buy to let property would better support the UK property market.
However, it was a different question that is pertinent. When asked who they would vote for if a general election were called today, half revealed they would back the Conservative Party, 18% said the Liberal Democrats, followed by the Brexit Party at 16%. Only 3% of property investors revealed they would back the Labour Party in a general election. Sums it up really.
Ray Clancy
Editor Property Wire
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